Well, that’s the first day over. Constant pain from stomach cramps and for some reason my energy level dropped to zero mid-afternoon. I could barely lift myself out of the chair at one point, but at least that passed. All this only serves to remind me of what Shaker and the other prisoners are going through. I have my family, especially my children, to support me (and occasionally taunt me with crisps in a good-natured way). Shaker has four children and he has been separated from them for more than ten years. All those missed birthdays, all those missed memories. How is it possible to withstand that kind of pain, never knowing when or even if it will ever end? And all this for a man who has never even been charged with a crime, let alone convicted. What happened to our supposed standards of justice in the Western world?…

The Home Office Twitter account has been gloating of late, after having rounded up a lot of “immigration offenders”, who it looks increasingly likely were racially profiled. The raids have, unsurprisingly, not been received well in local areas. This is in conjunction with the Home Office’s other immigration project, where it looks like they believed they were blowing a dogwhistle, but actually ended up reaching for a bassoon and playing a jaunty, racist melody.